MV Hondius hantavirus outbreak

Since April 2026, an outbreak of hantavirus has been identified on the Dutch cruise ship MV Hondius. As of 6 May 2026, it is anchored off the coast of Praia, Cape Verde, where its passengers remain unable to disembark. At least three people on board have been infected by the Andes strain of virus, which is the only known hantavirus capable of human-to-human transmission, although this is extremely rare. The BBC reports as of 6 May 2026 that there have been three confirmed cases, five suspected cases, and three deaths. The ship initially intended to dock in Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain, and evacuate its passengers, but this was rejected by the regional president Fernando Clavijo out of concerns for the islanders' safety.

On 1 April 2026, the ship left Ushuaia, Argentina, the southernmost city in the world. On 11 April, a passenger died on board from the virus; his body was removed from the vessel on 24 April in Saint Helena, where his wife also disembarked. Two days later, she died in a Johannesburg hospital. On 27 April a British passenger was sent to Johannesburg in order to be treated, in a critical but stable condition, with hantavirus. On 2 May a third passenger died on board. The ship initially docked in Praia on 3 May, and left for Tenerife on 6 May despite the objections of Fernando Clavijo.

Hantaviruses that cause illness in humans are mainly transmitted by rodents. In rodents, hantaviruses usually cause an asymptomatic, persistent infection. Infected animals can spread the virus to uninfected animals through aerosols or droplets from their faeces, urine, saliva, and blood, through consumption of contaminated food, or from virus particles shed from skin or fur. In humans, the Andes strain of hantavirus usually causes hantavirus pulmonary syndrome.

On 6 May, it was confirmed that the strain of hantavirus was the Andes strain, which is normally found in South America. While the Hantavirus normally spreads rodents–rodents and rodents–humans, the Andes strain is the only strain that has been known in previous outbreaks to undergo human-to-human transmission in extremely rare cases, especially involving people in close proximity.

The MV Hondius is owned by the Dutch company Oceanwide Expeditions. The ship has accommodation for 196 passengers and a crew of 72. The ship departed from Argentina on 1 April, with plans to visit Antarctica and "several isolated islands in the South Atlantic". Passengers and crew, 147 (149) people of 23 nationalities were on board the MV Hondius. Passengers mostly came from Spain, the United Kingdom, and the United States while the bulk of the crew came from the Philippines.

Argentine authorities have reported that no passengers showed symptoms of hantavirus at the time of the ship's initial departure.

At the time of the outbreak, 150 people were present on the ship. Passengers were told to limit close contact and frequently use hand sanitizer following identification of the outbreak.

On 11 April, a Dutch man died on board the ship. On 24 April, the Dutch man's body was taken off the ship, two weeks later after his death when the ship came to the British Overseas Territory of Saint Helena. At this time, 24 passengers disembarked the ship, among them the man's wife, who also disembarked at this time and took a plane to South Africa, where she died in a hospital on 26 April.

After stopping in Saint Helena, the ship continued on to Ascension Island, where an ill British passenger was removed and flown to South Africa for hospital care. On 27 April, MV Hondius left Ascension Island.

On 2 May, a German woman died on board.

On 3 May, the ship docked in Praia, the capital of Cape Verde. The authorities said they were sending medical supplies and officials to support the boat, and officials in Praia also expanded safety protocols near the port as a precautionary measure. The Cape Verdean government announced the creation of an isolation area and the coordination of a multidisciplinary team to provide assistance to the ship's passengers or crew. Around the same time, officials in South Africa, where two of the ship's passengers had been evacuated to, began contact tracing as a precautionary measure.

As of May 5, officials from the World Health Organization (WHO) have said that hantavirus was likely introduced to the ship by a passenger who had contracted the virus prior to boarding.

As of May 6, the ship was in Cape Verde, which is not considered able to handle the scale of operation needed for the ship's evacuation. Instead, it intended to travel to Tenerife and have its passengers depart there, but on 6 May, the president of the Canary Islands, Fernando Clavijo, said he "cannot allow [MV Hondius] to enter the Canaries" and refused to receive the ship in Tenerife. However, the WHO said that "Spain has a moral and legal obligation to assist these people, among whom are several Spanish citizens". The reason for his refusal was because he thought it would endanger the people of the Canary Islands, with which the islanders concurred, especially in light of their experiences in the COVID-19 pandemic.

The first evacuation flight was carried out by an air ambulance (LX-RHC) of Luxembourg Air Rescue.

On 6 May, the Swiss government confirmed that a man infected with hantavirus was being treated in Zurich, Switzerland. Swiss authorities confirm that the patient was a passenger on the cruise ship, bringing the total number of infections to 8. The man was one of the 24 passengers that disembarked on 26 April. On the same day, it was announced that three more people experiencing symptoms had been sent to the Netherlands by two air ambulances to undergo treatment; these were a 56-year-old Briton, a 41-year-old Dutch national and a 65-year-old German. Two of these three were crew members, including the ship's doctor, who is the 56-year-old Briton. The first plane carrying two patients landed in the Netherlands on 6 May, and the German national was later transferred to University Hospital of Düsseldorf and the Briton to Leiden University Medical Center. The second plane carrying the Dutch national experienced technical issues in its life support systems and has landed in Gran Canaria as of 7 May awaiting a replacement aircraft. On 6 May, the ship left Cape Verde for the Canary Islands. Three more medical professionals boarded the ship prior to departing.

As of 6 May, two investigators have noted that two people had visited a landfill, and they were later found to be infected; furthermore, that infected couple "may have been exposed to rodents", according to media. As of 6 May, around 150 people remain on board the ship, and there have been 3 deaths, 5 confirmed cases, and 3 suspected cases.

On 6 May, the Argentine health ministry published a report showing the movements of first symptomatic patients, the index case, the Dutch citizens who presented the first symptoms, prior to the ship's departure, showing a four month road trip spanning Chile, Uruguay and Argentina from 27 November in 2025 to 1 April in 2026. Meanwhile, the National Ministry of Health and Malbrán Institute are advancing the epidemiological investigation at the local level, capture and testing of rodents along Netherlanders' travel route, as well as contact tracing. The index case only returned to Argentina from Uruguay four days before departure.

• 1 April: The MV Hondius leaves Ushuaia, Argentina.

• 11 April: The first death occurs on board the ship.

• 24 April: The body of the deceased and his wife are airlifted to Johannesburg.

• 26 April: The wife of the first deceased dies in hospital in Johannesburg.

• 27 April: A third person is airlifted to Johannesburg, who remains in treatment.

• 2 May: A third person dies from the virus on board the ship.

• 3 May: The ship anchors off the coast of Praia, Cape Verde.

• 6 May: The president of the Canary Islands, Fernando Clavijo, refuses to allow the ship to dock there and be evacuated. Three more people are evacuated from the ship to the Netherlands, including the ship's doctor.

• COVID-19 pandemic on cruise ships

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• "Hantavirus cluster linked to cruise ship travel, Multi-country". Disease Outbreak News. World Health Organisation. 4 May 2026.